Abstract

Strategies to reduce interstage morbidity and mortality for patients with single ventricle following stage I palliation include, standardized care protocols, focused high-risk outpatient clinics, dedicated teams that focus on the unique needs of these fragile patients and use of home surveillance monitoring. Use of telemedicine devices for home monitoring has been shown to improve outcomes in adults. These devices allow for a more automated approach to home monitoring that have many advantages. We describe our program that utilizes a web-based telemedicine device to capture and transmit data from the homes of our patients during the interstage period. Our early data suggest that home telemedicine is feasible, provides a more systematic data review and analysis and supports the assertion that patients using home surveillance have significantly better nutritional status than those not using home monitoring.